


to thine own self be true

by ghostofgatsby



Series: I'd kill for you. I'd die for you. I'd live for you. [2]
Category: The Yogscast
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Fae manipulation, M/M, Urban Magic Yogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-07
Updated: 2015-10-07
Packaged: 2018-04-25 07:26:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4951720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostofgatsby/pseuds/ghostofgatsby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You hear a lot of stories, being a barkeep. People tell all kinds of things under the guise of alcohol, and in the quiet of the bar no one cares about the man at the counter.<br/>The barkeep shines the surface of the bar with one hand, glancing up at the patrons in the far right. One is a regular, and the other is someone he’s never seen before.<br/>If the first has his way, he’ll never be seen again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	to thine own self be true

**Author's Note:**

> “To thine own self be true.”  
> Act 1, scene 3, Hamlet  
> for more on the duality of this quote (freedom of choice vs. somewhat narcissistic indulgence) read this (which I found, like Polonius, to be quite wordy and rather meh): http://bigthink.com/the-proverbial-skeptic/to-thine-own-self-be-true-really  
> if TL;DR, the paragraph before the penultimate, and the last paragraph, is basically the jist of it.
> 
> Had this little idea floating around in my docs, so I dusted it off while procrastinating, as I do. (But I think the notes on this fic are longer than the fic itself...whoops.)  
> It’s set way before Smith meets Trott, and loooong before Ross and Sips and all that. I’ve been working on Trott’s backstory, as well as the next fic chronologically in the series. I’m thinking maaaaaybe December I’ll have Trott’s backstory out? Not sure. It’s...rather close to being done, I think, but I really want to run it through the ground editing-wise, and with college I really can’t devote as much time as I’d like. I wish it was summer again, and I wouldn’t have to work, and I could spend all of my time writing...
> 
> Smith charms a mark, from the pov of an eavesdropping barkeep  
> cw: fae manipulation, drinking  
> If I need to tag anything else, let me know.  
> (If my cornucopia of links are broken, or if you own the tumblr blog I’m linking to and want the link removed, just let me know. This goes for the links on any of my other fics, too.)
> 
> want to reblog? https://ghostofgatsby13.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/to-thine-own-self-be-true-ghostofgatsby/
> 
> Check out Devil of the Alleys, a mix for the kelpie and the darkness inside of him.  
> https://open.spotify.com/user/ghostofgatsby/playlist/12j5nJGD2iNPwPcNDiG5ES  
> Smith before, during, and after meeting Trott.  
> I definitely recommend:  
> Follow Me Down- The Pretty Reckless (which is SUCH a kelpie song, it’s great; there’s a nsfw-implied intro until about 0:30. quite a suggestive song, honestly.)  
> Jesus Saves- Royal Tusk (not over-the-top religious or looking down upon it as far as I can tell. Smith’s kelpie life, struggle with freedom and love, fights with Trott; could also be around the time he meets Ross and they all form the court)  
> tracklist: https://ghostofgatsby13.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/devil-of-the-alleys-playlist/

You hear a lot of stories, being a barkeep. People tell all kinds of things under the guise of alcohol, and in the quiet of the bar no one cares about the man at the counter. Unless they need another drink, that is.

The barkeep shines the surface of the bar with one hand, glancing up at the patrons in the far right. One is a regular, and the other is someone he’s never seen before.

If the first has his way, he’ll never be seen again.

The regular is an attractive man, with auburn hair and a smile that could charm the sternest of people. He’s tall, and lean, and every night he struts into the bar looking like he owns the very air he breathes. He stands in the doorway, searches the room, and when he’s found his mark he orders a drink.

“Whiskey on the rocks.” He orders, with a smirk in the corner of his mouth. Always whiskey. Green eyes bore into the barkeep, stirring thoughts he keeps locked away.

The barkeep shakes the temptations and obliges with the man’s drink. The man pays and saunters over to whomever he’s chosen that night.

Always strangers. The green-eyed man starts his game alone, and he never drinks without asking someone for a seat. The barkeep isn’t sure if he ends the game alone, not when he leaves with the strangers each time.

He returns again some other night, but the strangers never do.

“Mind if I sit here?” The regular asks his latest conquest.

The other man agrees with a plea. “Are you a Smith?” He asks as his new acquaintance sits down and takes a drink.

“A what?”

“A Smith.” The other man gestures. “They've got that red hair, them Smiths up the way. Live up in the hills.”

The regular patron grins, oozing seduction and mystery. “You can call me whatever you like.”

The barkeep watches as the other man blushes.

“Smith’s a rather...plain name, isn’t it?” The newly named “Smith” hums, tapping his fingers along the side of his glass.

The other man chuckles. “Yes, well- there’s nothing plain about you, is there?”

Smith laughs, perceptively leaning closer to the man across the table. “Would you like to find out?”

The barkeep continues to watch the two, listening in while pretending to clean the bar counter.

Smith is fascinated with them. At least he seems to be, the way his green eyes glimmer in the dim lighting. To the other patron, it's as if he hangs off every word they say, but the barkeep isn’t sure if it's true. Smith’s eyes absorb their movements, their motions, and their little idiosyncrasies. He’s looking at the other patron like they’re the sole object of his desire.

It’s not much longer before the two finish their drinks and stand up to leave.

Smith leads the man out of the bar with a hand in the small of his back. As he holds the door open, he turns over his shoulder and gives the barkeep a wink. He knew he’d been listening the entire time.

The barkeep stares back, caught eavesdropping. Smith’s eyes hold a darkness that he can’t pin on the lighting alone.

Smith grins, and then the door swings shut, sealing him and the other patron out.

The barkeep is left with a horrible feeling in his gut as he turns to clean up the dirty glassware they left behind. It wasn’t the first feeling he ever got that something was amiss, but it was the first time Smith had acknowledged his presence when he left the bar.

Smith would return, he knew. Maybe not this week, or the next, but soon. But for the man he was with, tonight would be the last night he’d ever see.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> maybe Smith charms the barkeep later, maybe he doesn't
> 
> http://sweetsharps.tumblr.com/post/130319711668/megarah-moon-scotland-northumberland  
> Smith, northern moors
> 
> http://deseptions.tumblr.com/post/129494880502  
> Lonely Hearts Club  
> http://sweetsharps.tumblr.com/post/130403900148  
> Smith
> 
>  **What do you think about Wordpress accounts?**  
>  Wordpress can be used as a website, blog, or kind of like Tumblr in the sense that you can share things from all over the internet.
> 
> As I've said before, I don't have a tumblr and I'm not interested in getting one, but I'm always thinking about how I can better interact with this community.
> 
> If I make a Wordpress for ghostofgatsby, you'd be able to subscribe and comment on my posts like you do on ao3, AND you'd be able to reblog them. So, a) I get traffic from tumblr w/o being on tumblr, and b) you can interact more than just through ao3 comments. You won't need a wordpress account to do this either- just input your email (which I never see) and you'll be updated every time I post something.
> 
> **Edit: check out the new blog here: https://ghostofgatsby13.wordpress.com/**
> 
> Things you can expect from a ghostofgatsby Wordpress- explanations on writing, WIP, Q&A sessions, music recommendations, random nonsense, pictures, etc!  
> I may be a “mature adult”...but I'm an awkward, dorky college student, too. So...yeah- expect that :P.


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